Marci Shimoff is a best selling author. Her most recent book HAPPY FOR NO REASON: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out, soared to #1 on many national bestseller lists including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com, and has debuted at #2 on The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
Marci is the woman's face of the biggest self-help book phenomenon in history, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her six bestselling titles in the series, including Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul and Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul, have met with stunning success, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide in 33 languages and have been on the New York Times bestseller list for a total of 108 weeks. Marci is one of the bestselling female nonfiction authors of all time. In addition, she is a featured teacher in the international film and book sensation, The Secret.

Stephanie Brancaforte has worked in the areas of international justice, human rights and development issues. In 2007, she served as an international legal advisor and analyst in the Defence Office at the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad. From 2005 to early 2007, she investigated war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the International Criminal Court in The Hague. From 2002-2005, she conducted research and campaign activities for Amnesty International, based out of the Kampala, Uganda office of the International Secretariat. She researched a variety of issues in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including human rights of refugees and displaced people, access to justice, violence against women, child soldiers, arms trafficking and juvenile detention. She is an active board member of several non-governmental organizations: 1) The Child Is Innocent, a child sponsorship and leadership development organization focused on northern Uganda (see www.thechildisinnocent.org), 2) Edirisa, an organization that promotes Africa and innovative development in Africa (www.edirisa.org), 3) IDP Action, focusing on the rights of internally displaced people in Africa (www.idpaction.org).